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“March Madness-Maddening Times”

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I bet you had fun filling out your NCAA basketball brackets.

Let’s see if your brackets are bent out of shape by the time we get to Sunday night.

That’s become a way of life and very ;much part of the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.

This year, like other years, like many Marches of decades ago.

Opening night, it happened again.

Tiny Wofford College did it to Seton Hall’s Pirates, leading at one point by 13-points..Wound up hitting 13’s Wofford, do you know where it is? A religious based school in South Carolina. The Terriers they re called.

Murray State ambushes Marquette. The Racers led by a late developing star and a wicked defense that held Marquette to 32% shooting. Bet you didn’t know Murray State’s nickname did you? The Racers, named after the horse racing industry.

There were a bunch of scares on opening night too. If New Mexico State hits its two free throws in the final (:01) they are playing not Auburn. St Mary’s was roaring back till it ran out of time against Villanova. Belmont turns it over on the final possession and loses to Maryland.

How does a 16-beat a number 1-seed? How can a 2-seed get taken out by some guy seeded 15th?

The NCAA history book is full of nights like that.

UMBC (Maryland-Baltimore County) did it to Virginia last year.

In the past, Florida Gulf Coast, known as Dunk City, bounced Georgetown’s Hoyas out of the tourney a couple of years ago.

Lehigh, with future NBA guard CJ McCollum, somehow beat Duke of the ACC.

Princeton’s slow down offense made a mess of UCLA years back in a stunning win.

George Mason dispatched Jim Calhoun and U-Conn one spring.

Santa Clara, led by Steve Nash, yes that Steve Nash, took out Arizona.

The one and done rule may have something to do with it. Freshman, with one foot out the door, and their mind on big money and the NBA, get whacked by smaller teams, who have señor lineups, playing well together, can pull off wins like that. A group of 5th year seniors have shocked the bluechip laden rosters.

The 3-point shot has become a great equalizer too. If you can put together a roster of strokers from beyond the arc, you can change the chemistry of a tourney game. You might not go to war with them on the boards, or handle them physically, but if you can drills the deep outside shot, you can win. Look at the box scores, there are nights the little guys will hit 13-3’s and the other guy goes home. It takes lots of two’s to beat a pile of 3’s.

Oh yes there are blowouts too, the big guy buries the little guy, as Gonzaga proved in its destructive win over Fairleigh Dickinson of New Jersey.

Weekend one is always wild. By next weekend the bulk of the upsets will be over, but that’s what makes March Madness so attractive.

But for 1-night, Fletcher McGee was a star, a difference maker. 7-3 point baskets later, he and Wofford celebrated a stunning win. It happens every time this year.

So, yes your brackets may be all bent out of shape by Sunday night when the first weekend is completed, but it’s worth watching and following.

It’s March Madness-what else did you expect.?

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“USD Basketball–You Never Know”

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The beautiful campus up on the hill, the one with the Catholic school religious affiliation, is hurting again.

USD, touched by another athletic scandal, none of its own making, but stained none-the-less.

A really classy place, with what appears to be a proper balance between athletics and academics.

USD may call itself Division 1, but it is really Division 3-in philosophy, with a touch of Ivy League class.

and now it finds its name dragged into the gutter again, a second time, by disgraced basketball coach Lamont Smith.

USD touched by this academic entrance scandal involving the Newport Beach business, funded by rich families, with the intent of getting the children of those families admitted to elite schools they were not qualified to enter.

Bribery for special admits is probably the simplest way to describe the scandal that has rocked places like USC, UCLA Stanford, Yale and more. And now the school on the hill too.

Allegations that fired basketball coach Lamont Smith may have taken 110,000 from William Singer’s Newport Beach Academic center, to falsify documents, to admit a son and a daughter, of an LA family. Allegations the family paid over 400,000 to get the special admits onto the campus, and that Lamont Smith was the conduit to the university.

The same Lamont Smith, who rebuilt the basketball program over the last two years, that resulted in a 20-win season and a berth in the NIT tournament.

But a year ago this month, he was fired after being arrested on a domestic abuse case, in the team hotel, on the road in Oakland, with a woman who was not his wife.

A week later he was gone from USD, without a farewell, without really an apology.

He wound up at Texas El Paso as an assistant. And now hours after his name was linked with the USD scandal, he has been terminated at UTEP too.

End of credibility, end of career likely.

All this coming years after the school’s all time leading scorer Brandon Johnson was arrested and convicted, along with another assistant coach, in a point shaving scandal in Johnson’s final year at the school.

For all the hard work done, by then Athletic Director Ky Snyder, and current AD-Bill McGillis, it must be gut wrenching to have their schools name dragged into the sewage of scandal.

Snyder hired Smith. McGillis stood by Smith as they tried to rebuild the program. And now both have been betrayed.

They were fooled, they were lied to, about Lamont Smith’s character. Shocking in that Lamont Smith played at USD and reportedly had quality credentials coming back to his Alma Mater.

You never know about people sometimes. Sadly, an innocent USD, now knows about one of its own.

Bad situations for a really good school, led by good people, now having to deal with all this, because up on the hill…..”you never really know-do you?”

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“Angels Baseball-At Least He Tries”

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It was stunning news that leaked out early in the morning.

The Angels signing of Mike Trout to a massive (12Y-430M) contract extension.

Stunning the length the team has committed to the player. Equally stunning, the amount of money, nearly a half billion dollars.

Trout, as complete a player as modern day baseball has, decided he liked playing in Anaheim, liked the team, liked the organization, and decided there was no reason to consider forcing a trade a year from now, or even going onto the free agent market in the winter of 2021.

Stunning too the laundry list of accomplishments for the outfielder. 7-time all star. 2X-MVP and 4X-runnerup. Look up the staggering numbers he has compiled, (.573-slugging percentage)……..(.990-on base plus slugging) and 60silver slugger awards. That’s why the price for all those seasons totals 430M.

All that is stunning, and so is the quality leadership of Angels owner Arte Moreno.

It’s convenient to bash leadership when the teams they own fall from grace.

It was easy to critique the owners patience to stay the course with manager Mike Scoscia thru the conclusion of his long 10-year contract, despite not being a playoff team in recent years.

It was easy to mock the owner and his past GMs for the then-record (254M) contract given to an aging Albert Pujols, to get him out of St-Louis.

And of course, many have crashed down on the Halos leadership for giving out huge money contracts to drug troubled slugger Josh Hamilton. or gift longterm 20M a year deals to pitchers Jared Weaver or CJ Wilson, only to see them break down.

Moreno is as loyal an owner as we have seen in modern day baseball.

He wants-and-needs a new stadium for the Halos, but he is not threatening to leave the market. He’s not an easy mark, and there will be tough negotiations ahead to keep the team in Anaheim, but one sees him negotiating in good faith.

And above all else, Moreno seems committed to his community. He signs players, they have rebuilt the farm system, and they pay state of the art money to their state of the arm talent.

What’s happening around Angels baseball, is so refreshing, and so different than other places.

You know where incompetent ownership has destroyed the Miami Marlins franchise. The Tampa Bay team that continues to be allowed to operate with 50M payrolls. The Pirates ownership that pockets money rather than sign quality talent. The Royals, with a history of tight fisted bad baseball leadership.

And of course up the highway, the Dodgers, with all that money, who stay out of free agency, and have refused to find a solution to their huge TV blackout controversy.

Moreno tries, accomplishes, and convinces players the ‘Big A’ is the place to be, and to stay.

At least he tries to do the right thing for his team and his town. I can’t say that for everybody on the MLB road map.

Arte Moreno deserves to be saluted for what he has done over the many years of ownership with the Angels.

Just ask Mike Trout about that.

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“Padres-Indians–What To Trade”

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Questions, oh we have questions, now with the revelation that Padres GM-AJ Preller called Chris Antonetti, his counterpart in Cleveland.

Not talking about the weather, but trying to reopen trade talks for one of the Indians front line pitchers, Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer.

Revisiting what they talked about at the Winter Meetings, when the Indians were in the midst of cleaning out a lot of high priced veteran players, saying the Cleveland market could not sustain the payroll the Tribe had created over the last couple of years of winning the AL Central.

I’ve got questions.

Do the Padres think they are close to being a wild card team, and are now willing to spend some of their farm system currency to get a front line arm to push all those teams in the NL Central and NL East for a wildcard spot this summer?

Are the Padres doing this because they now realize they cannot go thru a 162-game season with all these question marks in the starting rotation?

Are the Indians doing this because management’s mandate is to take the payroll even further lower, after dispatching Edwin Encarnarcion, Yonder Alonso, Lonnie Chisenhall, Yan Gomes,
Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Michael Brantley and more in the off season?

Will the Padres make the right choice in which outfielder they include in the deal? Will it be the rock-solid consistent Hunter Renfroe? Do they deal deal Manny Margot in center? Can you afford to include Austin Hedges in a trade?

If young pitching has to be part of this, do you dare part with former 1st round pick Calvin Quantrill, who has yet to get to the majors, and whom you paid a combined 14M for (7M-salary-7M tax) when you drafted him?

Is Logan Allen the price you must pay in a package to get an everyday ace like a Bauer-Kluber?

Do you know if Franmil Reyes can hit again this year, like he did last year at the end? You know 29-other teams passed on him two years ago in the Rule 5-minor league draft, so the question begs, is he the real deal?

Are you willing to take on the 57M-left on the Kluber contract, or gamble on the one year left (13M) on the Bauer pact, knowing free agency is just around the corner?

Is the reason Will Myers is suddenly playing center on an experimental basis because Margot is the one to go to the outfield needy Tribe?

Is Renfroe sitting because he is trade bait and you don’t want him hurt or exposed while trying to trade him?

Would you trade Francisco Mejia back to the Tribe, after having dealt Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to Cleveland last summer at deadline day to get him?

Are the Indians playing the Padres vs the Yankees, who need front line arms, and have slugging 3rd baseman Miguel Andujar, 1st baseman Luke Voit and young minor league pitching they could trade?

Lots of questions, waiting for answers, as we await opening day next Thursday in San Diego.

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“Monday Morning Memos”

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If I were king, I’d be writing and distributing memos on Monday morning.

PADRES….Final week of Cactus League and your rotation is no clearer than it was 5-weeks ago when camp opened. Offer Dallas Keuchel a 1-year plus an option contract and get him into the rotation. He turned down (17.9M) qualifying offer from the Astros. The Padres can afford an 18M pitcher on a year deal. The draft pick compensation comes as a comp pick between the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the June draft, and it’s not a Padres pick, it’s an MLB awarded pick. You cannot open the season with what you have right now can you? I trust Joey Lucchessi and Eric Lauer. Chris Paddack has been impressive (2.18-ERA) but coming off that elbow surgery two years ago-he must be on a pitch count and innings limit this season. Matt Strahm has looked good, but can he go more than 4-innings. There were 9-arms battling for the final 3-slots in the rotation. Poor outings, 6-hurlers with health issues, and pitchers getting overwhelmed, have pretty much discounted everyone else. The Padres don’t have enough starting pitching, and opening day is a week from Thursday.

AZTECS….Jekyyl-Hyde team is typical San Diego State…rotten game vs UNLV…man up and punch Nevada in the mouth….then wilt against Utah State. Brian Dutcher needs to convince Jalen McDaniels to stay in school another year. He is 1-bad decision away from going to the NBA-G League. 1st round draft pick-I doubt it. Devin Watson finished career with tremendous displays of leadership-grit-tenacity-skill, when virtually the rest of the team was fading away. Side note-Marvin Menzies gets taken out after 3-years of (48-48) basketball at UNLV..fired hours after team was beaten by SDSU. If Dutcher has opening on his staff, bring Menzies back as assistant head coach.

CHARGERS…GM-Tom Tolesco gets contract extension after going (48-48) over five years on the job, but his team is less now than it was at end of the season. Should have released Travis Benjamin and given the money to keep Tyrell Williams at wide receiver. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Tyrell might have been best big play pass catching combo in NFL. Still problems at right tackle. Signing aging Thomas Davis good short term rental-giving you smarts-leadership-toughness in the middle. They believe Brandon Mebane still has gas left in the tank at defensive tackle. More work to be done though, likely in the draft..

FLEET….Wild game Sunday night, the (32-29) last second loss to Birmingham Iron…Mike Martz team can move the ball and that defense can chase the quarterback, but pass coverage in the league is leaky….Fans who attend, and I am surprised at the low turnouts this year at the Stadium, are having a good time….Great story about Birmingham QB-Luis Perez, the Chula Vista player-who never played hi school ball, but wound up going to Division II-West Texas AM-Commerece…he comes off the bench and throws for (359Y) being chased all over the field, to get his team the win….He and Mike Bercovici put on a passing show…between them 6-TDs-4 interceptions and and 670-yards passing…Entertaining football for sure.

AZTECS…Football coach Rocky Long wants to return toughness to his team in spring ball, but at what price? 3-season ending surges and multiple concussions already in a couple fo weeks of workouts. Putting new spread formation into offense will take time, as witnessed by 4-interceptions and 2-fumbles in last Saturday scrimmage.

GULLS…GM-Bob Ferguson needs to get on the phone and make the call to the parent NHL-Anaheim Ducks. When their season ends in a couple of weeks, get the Ducks to send down all those top draft picks, so they can be on the Gulls playoff roster in the AHL. Adding Troy Terry-Max Jones-Jacob Larsson and others could push the Gulls deep into the AHL playoff run. There won’t be any April playoff games in Anaheim..why not San Diego?

LAKERS…What a disaster of a finish to the season. LeBron James now with minutes limit in a lost season. Brandon Ingram undergoes blood clot surgery in shoulder. Lonzo Ball gone for rest of season with 5-major injuries in two seasons in LA. Kyle Kuzma in and out of lineup with nagging injuries. Failing to make the playoffs 3rd time in last years. Bigger question, will any marquee free agent want to come play with LeBron this coming summer.

USC…Lynn Swann, under fire with the Trojans, says he won’t quit despite almost daily column criticism from LA Times. But athletic program has failed from grace, and so has university image with this latest academic entrance crisis triggered by rich parents buying their kids way into schools with forged documents-transcripts, bios. This looks like the tip of the iceberg in college academics.

PHIL MICKELSON….He admits he used the Newport Beach academic firm to help his daughter get into Brown Unversity. I hope it was just academic preparation, now academic fraud. He didn’t know-he says. He didn’t know about ‘insider trading issue’ with a gambling friend a couple of years ago.

JIMMIE JOHNSON….Hard to believe, it’s been 64-races since he won a race in NASCAR. Driver or car? Hard to believe a legendary driver wakes up one morning and can no longer compete in the sport he dominated.

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